Let’s be honest, everyone loves pizza –– and they always have. People have been making versions of it in different cultures for centuries. That is until, like they always do, the Italians came along and perfected it. What most of us think of when we hear the word “pizza” today is a version of the […]

They say that everyone leaves a digital footprint. Not so. A few years ago I posted my Lamb Stew with Cannellini beans (Stufato di agnello con fagioli canellini) recipe. But with changes to both my blog and website over the years, it got lost. Gone. Disappeared. Along with a several others of my favorite recipes. […]

I remember as a kid, my grandmother always had prune juice in the fridge. So throughout my life, I always associated prune juice with old people. And also for… you know…when you need a little extra help. In 2001, the California Prune Board pressured the Food and Drug Administration to change the name of prunes […]

In 1989, Roberta Molani opened one of the first cooking schools in Italy. Since then, Peccati di Gola, has grown from its original location in Mestre to include classes in thirteen locations throughout Italy. They have a substantial catering business and in Venice work with events related to the Bienniale, Venice Film Festival, weddings and other private events. […]

A meal is not complete in Italy without drinking a “digestivo”, or an after dinner drink at the end of the meal. A good Grappa, Amaro, Sambuca or Limoncello sipped after dinner is thought to help one’s food digest and settle the stomach. Everyone has their favorite and Limoncello, a lemon liqueur produced mainly in the […]

Last summer, on a very hot and steamy July night, my daughter and I arrived a few minutes early for our reservation at Scarpetta on West 14th Street in New York. The restaurant had been on our list for quite a while but for some reason we just never quite got there. I was looking […]

The year I graduated from college and moved to New York, I had a fall ticket series to the New York City Opera with a work friend. I didn’t know much about opera and still don’t, but seeing the magnificent performances of Madame Butterfly and Tosca at Lincoln Center are forever etched in my memory. […]

  My trip through the Venetian Lagoon was phenomenal and the stunning sites and scenery will be forever etched in my mind. Especially the food. And of course the Prosecco. When I see something wonderful to eat, my heart beats just a little bit faster. In the case of the sensational Fritto Misto (fried squid and shrimp) served on the boat, it […]

My mother went on vacation to California and she brought me back a lemon. That’s it…just a lemon…nothing else. And I was happy. Very, very happy.  She picked the lemon from a friend’s organic lemon tree in Berkeley, then packed it in her suitcase and schlepped it home. (I’m pretty sure she did some other […]

I really don’t know where to start talking about Limone, a charming village tucked away on the western shore of Lake Garda. We could begin with the beautiful, relaxed setting framed by the mountains towering above… Or I could tell you about the luscious, tangy, smooth, simple Tagliatelle al Limone I thoroughly enjoyed at a restaurant on the lakefront. […]